Federal Court Orders MGM Resorts to Pay $45m Settlement Over Two Major Data Breaches

MGM Resorts International is facing a hefty $45m settlement in a consolidated class-action lawsuit related to two separate major data breaches. A federal court preliminarily approved the agreement for the issues that occurred in 2019 and 2023, with final confirmation set for June. The casino company might also still be subject to an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission.

The first incident occurred in July 2019 when a hacker accessed the personal information of millions of MGM customers, including their home addresses and passport numbers.

The other fault was in September 2023 when the company suffered a ransomware attack that led to mass disruption of its Las Vegas properties and resulted in about $100m in losses.

about 37 million customer records were impacted

The attackers allegedly accessed guest information at the same time, with the complaint claiming that between the two incidents, about 37 million customer records were impacted.

The lawsuit claims that the casino company didn’t have proper data security systems in place, leading to the breaches.

The compensation that plaintiffs will receive in this case depends on the extent of their stolen information. For example, if the hacker accessed an individual’s military identification number or Social Security number, they’re entitled to $75. The most someone can get is $15,000. Of course, the legal team will make out the best, able to claim as much as $13.5m of the $45m total.

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Wife of Ohtani Scandal-Linked Bookie Could Lose Resorts World License

License loss likely

Nicole Bowyer, wife of the bookmaker tied to the betting scandal involving Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter, stands to lose her license with a Las Vegas casino.

Nicole accepted payment from Resorts World Las Vegas

The likely revocation stems from an August Nevada Gaming Control Board complaint claiming Nicole accepted payment from Resorts World Las Vegas, despite knowing at least some of husband Mathew Bowyer’s source of funds came from illegal activity. 

Nicole works as an independent agent with the Genting-owned casino, but that arrangement could end if the Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) accepts a stipulation for settling the complaint against her at its next meeting.

Settlement terms

On Thuresday, the five-member NGC will consider a settlement in which Nicole admits to all charges brought by the Attorney General’s office. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, as part of that settlement, Nicole also agrees to have her Nevada gaming license with Resorts World revoked for a minimum of five years. 

While Nicole could reapply for licensing after this period, however, in admitting the AG’s charges she’ll also voluntarily “waive her right to a public hearing on charges and allegations and the right to obtain judicial review of the commission’s decision.”

Nicole must fully cooperate with the NGCB, federal, and state/local law enforcement

Under terms of the settlement, Nicole must fully cooperate with the NGCB, federal, and state/local law enforcement in the knowledge any information she divulges within the settlement could be used towards other pending cases under NGCB consideration. 

The settlement comes after Mathew illegally accepted thousands of wagers from Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, who later admitted to stealing almost $17m from the baseball star to cover his debts with Nicole’s husband.

Mathew agreed to plead guilty to various related charges before the NGCB issued the complaint against his wife in August, the same day the Board filed a disciplinary complaint against Resorts World Las Vegas.

World of troubles

The news of Nicole’s license with the Vegas Strip casino owned by Malaysia-headquartered Genting being potentially revoked serves as an added reminder of Resorts World’s Nevada troubles. 

The NGCB’s 12-count complaint against the casino essentially accused the Resorts World casino of being a haven for criminal activity. The NGCB extended the casino’s deadline to respond to its complaint to December 9.

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Poll: 59% People in Thailand Against Casinos and 69% Oppose Online Gambling

The findings of a new poll suggest that the majority of people in Thailand aren’t in favor of the government legalizing land-based casinos and online gambling.

The National Institute of Development Administration published its poll on Sunday outlining how 69% of people it talked to were against online gambling, with 59% not in favor of land-based casinos. Only 29% of respondents supported both proposals.

The poll also asked if people thought the government should hold a public referendum on one or both of these issues, with 51% disagreeing on both fronts.

Lawmakers in Thailand have pushed to expand existing gambling legislation in recent months in an attempt to drive more tourism and add to tax coffers. Many people visit neighboring countries like Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, and the Philippines for their extensive casino resort entertainment complexes.

government already approved a draft bill in January

The government already approved a draft bill in January to proceed with online gambling and land-based facilities. This would significantly expand the current framework, which only allows a lottery and horse racing betting.

Proponents of the proposals believe that gambling tax revenue could exceed US$3bn annually, although the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime cautioned lawmakers about the risks of criminals using an iGaming sector for illicit activities.

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Two Women Who Murdered Man in Las Vegas Strip Hotel Room to Serve 10+ Years in Prison

A pair of women in their early 20s who went to a Las Vegas Strip hotel room before robbing and murdering a man will have to spend at least a decade in prison before being eligible for parole.

Arionna Taylor and Erika Covington entered guilty pleas in November to second-degree murder charges; Clark County District Court Judge Tierra Jones ruled on Tuesday that the maximum term they will serve is 25 years.

It took eight hours for a housekeeper to discover the body.

In May 2023 on the fifth floor of Caesars Palace, one of the women shot and killed Bryan Altamirano-Solano. The suspects were seen on surveillance footage running out of the hotel room about 15 minutes after they arrived, with one of them carrying the victim’s bag. It took eight hours for a housekeeper to discover the body.

Covington spoke during the sentencing to apologize to the victim’s family for the grief and pain she and Taylor caused. Originally from Nicaragua, Altamirano-Solano was seeking asylum in the US.

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Sky Betting and Gaming Illegally Held Customer Data, Court Rules

Sky found guilty

Sky Betting and Gaming has been found guilty by a judge of illegally collecting the data of a customer who was suffering from gambling addiction.

The data was collected through the use of cookies without express consent from the customer.

Bonne Terre Limited, which trades under the Sky Betting and Gaming brand and is owned by Flutter Entertainment, breached the UK’s strict data protection laws by sending the customer direct personalized messages between 2017 and 2019. The data was collected through the use of cookies without express consent from the customer.

Sky has disagreed with the ruling and stated that it will consider appealing the decision, citing its recent efforts to improve its safer gambling controls.

Data tracking

The claimant in the case, which was heard in the UK’s high court on Thursday, lost over £45,000 ($56,000) gambling through Sky over a period of around ten years. The claimant stated that the operator should have known that he was suffering from problem gambling and that his data was shared with third parties without his consent.

requests found a vast amount of data stored about the claimant

The claimant submitted several Data Subject Access Requests, which force companies to divulge any data they have collected on individuals. The requests found a vast amount of data stored about the claimant, with over 500 data points being tracked and recorded in real time.

Lawyers acting for the claimant also noted that the data stored was only a small percentage of the total that would be used to profile the gambler, who had been identified by Sky’s marketing teams as a customer of high value.

Will Prochaska, director of the Coalition to End Gambling Ads, said: “This case gives us a little window into one operator’s processes but this appears to be normal practice by all licensed online gambling operators in Britain.

“We’ve seen far too many instances of people being hounded by gambling operators when it’s obvious to anybody that their losses are unaffordable and causing them harm.”

Sky to appeal

However, a spokesperson for Sky stated it may appeal the decision, saying: “We fundamentally disagree with this judgment and will be considering an appeal. We have made significant changes to our controls and processes over the past six years as part of our ongoing investment behind safer gambling and will continue to do so.”

The judge noted that industry practices had evolved since the time of the incident, but stated that the decision had to concern the time period in which it occurred, calling the practices “parasitic.”

Ravi Naik, the lawyer representing the claimant, added: “Hopefully this judgment will reduce harm to vulnerable people by serving as a warning to online gambling companies.”

The ruling is not the first time that Sky has fallen foul of UK regulations concerning customer data, with the company being reprimanded in September 2024 over a similar incident of using cookies to target ads at customers suffering from gambling addiction.

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Man Avoids Prison Over Choctaw Casino Screwdriver Killing

A jury has deemed a man to be not guilty of manslaughter after a man was killed in the parking garage of the Choctaw Casino & Resort Durant in Oklahoma.

Emergency services unsuccessfully attempted to save his Wingfield’s life at the scene.

Surveillance footage allegedly showed the defendant, Antonio Latham, stabbing Phillip Wingfield in the head with a screwdriver during the June 2024 altercation. Emergency services unsuccessfully attempted to save his Wingfield’s life at the scene.

Police arrested Latham shortly after the incident and charged him with first-degree murder, which was later downgraded to manslaughter. The jury delivered its verdict after weighing the evidence, the legal definition of manslaughter, and testimony. The 20-year-old is now a free man and was released from Bryan County Jail on Wednesday.

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Scientific American Flags Gambling Addiction Research Identifying ‘Dark Flow’ Dopamine Rush 

A state of trance

A critically acclaimed US scientific journal has released its findings based on peer research that identifies a trancelike compulsion to gamble.

state gamblers can enter that boosts their dopamine levels

Scientific American’s in-depth report on Thursday included findings from Swansea University in Wales that coined the phrase ‘dark flow.’ The phrase describes the state gamblers can enter that boosts their dopamine levels and drives them to chase the big win.

A psychologist studying gambling at Swansea University, Jamie Torrance, explained the findings through the prism of slot machines. Slots are the bread and butter of casinos. Torrance explained the reason why the machines completely absorb and mesmerize patrons playing them.

“The fast turnarounds can closely link the act of pressing the button with the rush of dopamine of a potential win, conditioning a person to keep pulling the lever,” reports SciAm. 

Torrance maintains that poker with friends is less dangerous than playing a slot machine because of the devices’ incredible pace, where “only seconds pass between placing a bet and winning or losing.”

Sports betting question

According to SciAm, Swansea’s findings flag trouble down the line for sports betting, with the advent of parlays and in-game betting. 

While sports betting is “not as harmful as a slot machine“ stated Torrance, the aspect of placing bets faster means the vertical is “moving in that direction.”

The US journal also cited a policy researcher studying gambling at the University of Glasgow, Heather Wardle, as adding an additional cautionary note. Namely that sportsbook apps can use personal data to tailor offers to bettors.

Wardle posited what tobacco firms back in the day would have done with today’s sportsbooks’ consumer insights: “If they’d have known exactly how much you smoked, when you smoked, how often you smoked, the circumstances around your smoking.”

apps designed to exploit “cognitive biases”

Wardle fronted a commission on gambling’s risks to public health whose findings were published late last year in the Lancet. The commission referred to ‘dark patterns,’ a term for digital apps designed to exploit “cognitive biases to get people to act outside of their best interest.”

Blame it on the house

Torrance concurs, adding that gambling firms “have all of this knowledge about how the human mind works, how human behavior works, and they essentially use that knowledge for profits.”

Head of the Center for Gambling Studies at New Jersey’s Rutgers, Lia Nower, however, dismisses claims by Joe Maloney of the American Gaming Association that sports betting apps carry important safety features. Nower’s study group found that only around 1% to 4% of people under age 25 in New Jersey use any of the safety features found on sports betting apps.

Torrance likened push notifications with a “limited time” offer for free bets as an offer of a free drink to an alcoholic. Like a gambler with a free bet offer, Torrance said it would be very hard for a drinker to say no to.

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Novomatic Expanding Global Reach With Acquisition of Viking Casinos in France

Gaming firm Novomatic is looking to expand its global footprint, and its latest move is to acquire the French-based Viking Casinos SAS for an undisclosed sum. The deal will need all the relevant regulatory approvals before proceeding and would see Novomatic add 11 land-based casinos to its portfolio.

one of the country’s biggest casino companies

Viking Casinos started in 1998, growing into one of the country’s biggest casino companies since then. The country’s land-based sector has been under fire recently, with some lawmakers calling for the legalization of online casinos, which properties fear would significantly eat into their businesses and lead to closures.

Commenting on the planned acquisition, Novomatic AG Executive Board Member Stefan Krenn remarked that it provides “the foundation for further sustainable growth in France.”

Viking Casinos SAS CEO Luc Le Borgne echoed these sentiments and believes that the company will benefit from Novomatic’s resources and expertise, allowing it to become more efficient.

Austria-based Novomatic already has an impressive portfolio of properties across the world, operating over 2,000 facilities in approximately 50 countries. It also manufactures slot machines and other gambling-related technology.

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New Fake Ads Emerge Claiming to Represent Kansas Casinos

Kansas has been targeted by a new social media scam impersonating several casinos in the state.

Local gambling institutions such as the Kansas Star, Prairie Band, and Winstar have been used by scammers who have put fake advertisements on social media sites like Facebook to get users to follow the links.

Among other benefits promised, the ads offer users a welcome bonus of up to $1,500 if they click through and sign up for an account. However, instead of being directed to the legitimate casino website, users are taken to a fake casino which simply steals their deposits.

if you click on it and deposit your money to become a winner, you’ll become a loser.”

Local media outlet KWCH-12’s Factfinder service reported that the ads were appearing daily to residents in Kansas and were highly convincing. One local stated: “They’re always new ones for new casino. It doesn’t matter what casino it is, if you click on it and deposit your money to become a winner, you’ll become a loser.”

There has been a growing concern over fake gambling ads, which have increased considerably as the global trend towards regulated, legal betting has continued. At the end of 2024, a warning was issued over fake AI-generated advertisements originating from Egypt, but which quickly spread to Europe and the Middle East.

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Netflix Restaurant Opening in MGM Grand Next Month

California-based streaming giant Netflix is further sinking its teeth into the tangible world by opening its Bites franchise in a Las Vegas entertainment icon, MGM Grand Hotel & Casino.

According to an announcement by Netflix, the brand will open a Bites restaurant at MGM Grand on February 20. The eatery, which will offer meals relating to popular shows, is already taking reservations.

The Bites franchise will offer food items such as chicken and Eggo waffles from ‘Stranger Things’ and a ‘Bridgerton’ tea service, complete with English teas and scones.

guests “can escape into a new world.”

The transposition of fiction into real life is a new line of business for Netflix, including its forray into online casino through a Squid Game slot. The concept seems a perfect fit with Las Vegas, which MGM Grand exec Mike Neubecke calls a place where guests “can escape into a new world.”

Neubecke added the Netflix eatery deal was ideal because both brands “know how to captivate and entertain.”

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